Posted in Uncategorized on August 13, 2011 | 5 Comments »
Translation from the Polish:
No, Mother, do not weep,
Most chaste Queen of Heaven
Support me always.
I am a melancholy man, and I admit that things that normal people find incredibly sad, like most Nick Drake or Tim Buckley tunes- or William Blake or Theodore Roethke poems- I find heartbreakingly beautiful.
But still, I find this illuminative…
Icon by Daniel Nichols
Posted in Uncategorized on August 13, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
“Remote-controlled US drones have been targeting militants in Pakistan for seven years – in a covert war led by the CIA.
The airstrikes are largely focused on the mountainous areas of Waziristan near the border withAfghanistan.
In December 2010, Channel 4 News spoke to witnesses on the ground who said that women and children had perished in the bombing raids, as well as rebel fighters.
Now a detailed study by the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) has been published containing new figures on civilian casualties.
Its findings suggest the number of ordinary people killed could be 40 per cent higher than previously reported and that as many as 168 children have died since the strikes began.”
More:
http://www.channel4.com/news/study-reveals-168-child-deaths-in-pakistan-drone-war
Posted in Uncategorized on August 13, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
He’s handsome as Mitt Romney! He’s socially conservative as Sarah Palin! And the corporate Republican establishment loves him! He’s the Texas Wonder Boy!
But wait:
With Texas’ minimal regulation and low taxes — and Perry’s cheerleading — a
spike in job growth during the past few years became known as the Texas Miracle. The rise in oil and gas prices, as well as a long-time state law protecting homeowners, helped stave off the recession for a while. And as a result, a miracle myth was created, with little exploration as to what impact Perry’s policies actually had on the economic picture. The miracle is that anyone would call minimum-wage jobs a miracle. Of the all the jobs in Texas created last year, 37 percent paid at or below minimum wage — and the state leads the nation in total minimum wage workers, according to a recent New York Times report.
“The important thing to do is not to just count jobs but to look at what kinds of jobs are being created in Texas,” explained Dick Lavine, a Senior Fiscal Analyst with the Center for Public Policy Priorities. “Texas is tied for last with Mississippi for the highest percentage of minimum wage jobs and Texas is by far the leader of residents who don’t have health insurance. It’s low wage jobs without any benefits.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/03/governor-perrys-texas-economy_n_917460.html
Posted in Uncategorized on August 13, 2011 | 3 Comments »
I used to think that Orthodoxy was impervious to the attempts to justify major deviance from Tradition; after all, what communion values tradition so much?
Apparently I underestimated the power of rationalization in the hands of the determined.
While this editorial does not represent the hierarchy it is no secret that there are bishops in the convert-heavy OCA episcopate who are sympathetic. This little essay is a masterpiece in clever manipulation of tradition. In criticizing it I am in no way counseling anything less than sympathy and compassion for those burdened with this particular temptation.
And a warning: this gets a little icky:
http://www.ocanews.org/news/PastoralResponse7.27.11.html
And here is Venuleius’ take on it; he who only recently returned to the Catholic Church after a long sojourn in Orthodoxy:
